General Present Attitude: Classic Cars

[red57]

I agree with SimsBJ8, PC, and others that the burden is on us - if we want others to appreciate these cars, we need to be good ambassadors. Making some poor gas station attendant search for the tank on a 100 or having a sign that your life is in danger if you touch is not going to make them want to cheer us on. BTW, I pumped a lot of gas in the 60's and part of the fun/satisfaction was knowing where the gas caps were - lots of 50's GMs behind tail lights & other 'hidden' locations and then in the 60's they shifted to behind license plates at the bottom of the rear bumpers (and VW in the front 'boot') - was a sign of being a journeyman pump jocky if you were never stumped .

I think the virus has definitely put a damper on what is possible right now because the good/fun things we might normally do just aren't possible right now. But as soon as the virus is behind us we need to resume educating/recruiting new blood to our sport.

I vintage raced my 100-6 from 1995 to 2013 and the spectators/fans cruising the pits were some of the best returns on the investment. My friends and I all had a standing policy that anyone interested was welcome to sit in the cars and have pictures taken. I lost count of how many happy parents & grandparents took pictures of their equally happy kids in my car - hopefully at least a few went on to be gearheads.

Some of my favorite memories were at Calgary's Race City race track in the late 90's. The local Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization worked in conjunction with the Calgary Vintage Racing Club to sign up kids for 'track rides'. They would typically have about 50 kids there and we rounded up all the extra helmets we could find and spent an hour or so at lunch time giving various kids a couple of laps around the track (at reduced speed obviously). These kids mostly had little or no family support/fun available and it was a powerful feeling to be able help them have a bit of fun. One that stands out for me was a little girl about 4-5 years old - she was so little that when sitting in the passenger seat she couldn't see out the front of the car and could barely see over the door looking out the side so she spent the entire 2 laps staring at the dash, her feet, my feet, the gages, the shifter.... I kept glancing at her to see how she was doing and the entire time she had this HUGE grin on her face and her eyes were rolling around like she couldn't make them stay on any one thing. Pulled in after our 2 laps and she thanked me, flashed her big grin and raced off to get in the next car for the next 2 laps. Had tears in my eyes....

We all need to do what we can to interest younger generations to these wonderful chariots.

Dave

 

[Keoke]

red57":

That was an excellent write up you did here -Thanks !

 

[glemon]

Ditto the above, put a smile on my face.

 

[Healey Nut]

I always let the kids sit in my cars , can you imagine being a five year old and allowed to sit in a fully restored Healey or and Aston Martin .
Their smiles make it all worthwhile .
The ones that tick me off at car shows are the people who insist on bringing their dogs . I have seen so many dogs jump up at the side of cars and leave claw marks in paintwork , and people on bicycles who wont get off them and insist on going between cars and leaning over off the bicycle to look inside .

 

[John Turney]

Got an enthusiastic "thumbs up" from a nice looking young lady at Safeway this morning. She pointed my Healey out to her boyfriend, who didn't seem interested. That relationship is doomed.

 

[steveg]

Got an enthusiastic "thumbs up" from a nice looking young lady at Safeway this morning. She pointed my Healey out to her boyfriend, who didn't seem interested. That relationship is doomed.

She can definitely do better.

 

[Keoke]

She can definitely do better.

Not til he Virus is over---

 

[RDKeysor]

On a trip to our AHCA club event last week, a guy came over to admire my BN7 while I pumped gas. He said he owned non-running TR GT6. On the way home, caught in a rainstorm and finding shelter under a filling station canopy, a guy at the next Chevron pump came over to take pictures of my car and admire it. Children, in particular, will wave when I drive by in our residential neighborhood, and I often have cars pulled up alongside at a traffic light ask questions or make admiring remarks. For my red Porsche 968 coupe I've owned for 21 years, nothing. The Healey is simply a great design.

 

[nevets]

Not every encounter with the public is exactly positive. I stopped at a roadside farm stand in my BN6 and the rather attractive young woman behind the counter admired my car and asked: “So does having a cool car help”? A backhanded compliment if ever I heard one.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Not every encounter with the public is exactly positive. I stopped at a roadside farm stand in my BN6 and the rather attractive young woman behind the counter admired my car and asked: “So does having a cool car help”? A backhanded compliment if ever I heard one.

The l'esprit de l'escalier would be "Hop in the passenger seat and find out."

 

[pkmh]

The l'esprit de l'escalier would be "Hop in the passenger seat and find out."

Well said! (Never know, maybe she was waiting for that to be said).

 

[steveg]

Today I helped a friend move his classic cars to a safe warehouse. Porsche 993, Ferrari Dino 246, AH BN7, 356 speedster, Ferrari Maranello and Ferrari 365GTC-4. The only one that picture requests from some young guys at the warehouse was the Healey.

 

[pan]

G'day Paul,
You have started an interesting topic! Here in Queensland, we are fortunate in being relatively untouched by COVID. Last week we celebrated our club's 50th Anniversary with a drive to a small country town for lunch. At the place where we gathered to start the run, on the north-west fringe of Brisbane we were inundated with favorable comments and enquiries about our cars. I assume this is because there has not been much classic car activity for some months. When we reached our destination we met more AHOCQ members who had travelled from our Sunshine Coast region and we had twenty cars lined up opposite the Woodford Hotel where we were to eat. It took some time to get into the pub due to the number of people who were asking about our cars and taking photographs. So, we don't seem to be as affected by the doom and gloom virus as some. Electric cars are still fairly rare here, although hybrids seem to be popular.
Speaking of the virus, the day was spoiled slightly because Joe, who started the AHOCQ in 1970 was unable to attend. He had to wait for the result of a COVID test and the negative result arrived too late for him and his wife to be able to join us.
Here are a few photos from the day.
Cheers, Alwyn

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Here's a take from the economics side:

https://wolfstreet.com/2020/09/19/a...-after-steep-price-drops-earlier-in-the-year/

 

[pkmh]

Hey down there, Alwyn,

Glad to see a bunch of Healeys in your neck of the woods. And in nice shape, I might add. Looks like you all had a great day out. Glad the hear the virus isn't much of an issue there either. But sorry to hear about your friend's negative COVID results coming too late. That's a bummer, indeed!

Yesterday here by me, the weather was terrific for a drive and I finally got to witness a thumbs up by one person and another fellow in the passenger seat of his girlfriend's car pulled up besides my parked Healey having paused to say to me, "You are "f***'in Cool!"
Then he admitted he had to be careful with his language cause of a 4 year old in the back seat. ("Oh well!").

So, it's good to see things are slowly returning to normal. And there was an American Car show local to me as I passed by. But no one waved to me as I passed and I was too busy keeping both my hands on the wheel (after all, Healeys do not drive themselves, do they?!).:chuncky:

Paul

 

[pan]

G'day Paul,
I did say "relatively untouched by the virus"! It's still a pain in the neck and just seems surreal to me. Yesterday evening I drove my 17 year old grand-daughter to her high school formal. It was like a mini Classic Car Show and my 100 received several favorable comments.
Cheers,
Alwyn

 

[Bob McElwee]

Great pic, Alwyn.

 

[pkmh]

G'day Paul,
I did say "relatively untouched by the virus"! It's still a pain in the neck and just seems surreal to me. Yesterday evening I drove my 17 year old grand-daughter to her high school formal. It was like a mini Classic Car Show and my 100 received several favorable comments.
Cheers,
AlwynView attachment 65568

Good for you, Alwyn! Hope your Grand-daughter had a wonderful time at her Formal (I think we call it a "Prom" here, yes?!). Anyway, wishing you and your Grand-daughter all that life has to offer and much more.

Enjoy!

Paul

 

[AUSMHLY]

Walking back to my blue/oew BJ8, a gal was walking around my car looking at it. When I got close I said hello. She asked, is this your car? I assumed the Superman stance, legs spread, hands on hips and said, why yes it is! She chuckled and said "it's a beautiful Healey". Thank you! She replies, "I used to have a sprite, it was British Racing Yellow." I say to myself, don't say anything, let it pass. She's really pretty, don't screw up this opportunity to chat with an attractive gal. Don't say it, don't say it.

 

[pkmh]

Yes sir, ASHMHLY, Good thing you didn't say anything for the air valve to your superman suit will of been deflated right quick!:eagerness: